Hottentot
Americannoun
noun
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a former name for Khoikhoi
-
any of the languages of this people, belonging to the Khoisan family
Usage
When referring to the people the accepted word nowadays is Khoikhoi . Hottentot continues to be used for some animal and plant names, as in Hottentot fig
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Hottentot
1670–80; < Afrikaans; origin uncertain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The gypsy moth was renamed the spongy moth by the Entomological Society of America last year, and the former Hottentot Teal, a duck, was renamed the Blue-Billed Teal by the American Ornithological Society.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2023
And “Venus” is Ms. Parks’s portrayal of the 19th-century African woman who became known as the Hottentot Venus; it will be directed by Lear deBessonet.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2016
Yahima Torres plays Baartman, the so-called "Hottentot Venus" who travelled to London in 1810 and Paris several years later in the hope of making a fortune with which to return to her homeland.
From Reuters ● Sep. 8, 2010
In The Hottentot, Edward Everett Horton, able farceur of this piece, was a fake jockey whom the horses frightened more than anything else in the world.
From Time Magazine Archive
“But you, perhaps, did not know that I understand something of the Hottentot language also.”
From Hair-Breadth Escapes The Adventures of Three Boys in South Africa by H.C. Adams
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
